Elfin Land

Chapter 15: A Lily-Race.

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About This Book

A collection of short, rhyming children's poems that populate a fanciful world of fairies, elves, and small creatures. Scenes include moonlit dances, seaside frolics, garden games, and playful animal portraits, all rendered in light, sing-song verse. Recurring images of nature and domestic whimsy introduce gentle moral touches and humorous surprises. The pieces are brief, accessible, and shaped for reading aloud to young audiences.

A Lily-Race.

A swarthy son of a savage race,

A brave young Indian lad,

Set out from shore in a light canoe,

His foot on a lily-pad.

His oar was only a slender rush,

He managed with native grace,

And he hurried along, for close behind

Another had given chase.

Together they darted adown the stream,

Each poised in his light canoe,

’Till in their strivings to keep ahead,

Their oars were broken in two.

And that was the end of the lily-race;

For soon with a savage roar,

The Indian boys jumped into the stream,

And both of them swam ashore.